Pressure gauges are employed in a variety of pressurized fluid systems to allow the operator to quickly determine the pressure of the system at a particular location and to identify potentially dangerous over or under-pressurization conditions within the system. In systems that rely on limited-capacity tanks as a source of pressurized fluid, pressure gauges also allow the operator to continuously monitor the amount of pressurized fluid remaining in the system.
Bourdon tube pressure gauges are commonly used to measure pressure in pressurized fluid systems. A bourdon tube pressure gauge uses a coiled tube with an open end and a closed end. The open end is connected to a source of pressurized fluid. The coiled tube tends to increasingly uncoil as fluid of higher pressure enters the open end.
The readable portion of a bourdon tube gauge typically resembles a traditional clock, comprising a flat, disk-like dial face, and a rotating radial pointer. Conventional bourdon tube gauges generally employ internal gearing to exaggerate the movement of the bourdon tube within the gauge housing. Huang U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,725 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,175 disclose a pressure reading structure used in a pressure gauge in which the user is enabled to view the readings of the pressure gauge through a transparent housing from the peripheral side of the gauge.
In hand-held or other pressurized systems where a pressure gauge is likely to encounter objects that are moving relative to the gauge, it is particularly important to minimize the gauge's profile and make it as rugged as possible so as to prevent damage, for example, to the gauge, the surrounding environment, the operator, or the pressurized system itself. In hand-held and other pressurized systems, it may also be particularly useful for an operator to be able to view the pressure gauge from a variety of angles lateral to the structure to which the gauge is mounted.
There exists a need for an improved fluid pressure gauge that solves at least these problems, and provides advantages which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure.